


Through the Broken Glass

by Moyra



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, M/M, Protective Oliver, Tommy Merlyn is Alive, evil!Robert, mostly neutral Oliver, semigood!Malcolm, slowburn, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:38:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3945709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moyra/pseuds/Moyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The butterfly flaps its wings and the hurricane comes. Robert Queen had a sister that died and the whole world changes. Oliver Queen spent five years away from home and comes back a changed man. He has only one goal: protect his sister and best friend from the machinations of his father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It is in Hong Kong that Oliver first learns of Malcolm Merlyn and his son's miraculous survival. He feels relief and joy so deep that they shake him more than Shado's death ever did. A second later he has to keep running, Masao not far away, and he tries to put it out of his mind, not let it distract him. He fails. The next day he meets Masao's family and forces himself to forget. Forget the way Tommy looked as they were flung from the deck of Queen's Gambit after something had exploded below. Forget the sight of the ship captain shooting himself in the head just so Oliver could live. Forget the crushing guilt he felt when he thought Sara had died. He forgets. _Or he thinks he does._

He works for Amanda, interrogates, tortures, kills. Every order issued by the woman chips away at his heart until he struggles to remember what his mother's voice sounds like, the way his father's brows would draw together when he laughs. What it felt like to make love to Laurel. To Sara. To Shado. _To Slade._

He cradles the pieces of his broken self behind the ever-crumbling walls of his mind and chooses carefully what can be discarded for his own survival. ARGUS is relentless. It takes and takes and takes and all he gets in return is the blood on his hands and holes in his soul. And as the days go on he stops caring. He stops caring about the killing. About the torture. He finds a certain amount of satisfaction in the job well done. His reports leave a smug smile on Amanda's face and all he can dredge up is faint annoyance. She pats him on the head and lifts the constant supervision.

It has been three years since he washed up on Lian Yu and he rarely thinks about his time on the island. It doesn't really pertain to his life as Waller's pet interrogator.

When he stands across the street from his family on a mission from ARGUS, he catches himself thinking that the sight of his mother and father together fills his heart with nothing but emptiness. When months later he finds out that it was Robert who ordered his best friend killed, who watched his son step on the yacht with an indulgent smile and knew that was the last time they would see each other, Oliver cannot muster the surprise and shocked disbelief he knows he should feel.

Anger has no place in his world anymore. All he has is exhaustion.

When he sleeps, Oliver dreams of an all-encompassing darkness that croons at him in her embrace, and of candles that are being extinguished right before his eyes one by one. He is helpless and hopeless in those dreams. Each time the number of candles left around him gets smaller and smaller and he doesn't need a dream-book to recognize what that means.

It is in Krasnodar he realizes the memories of his best friend start to fade as well. For a second he hesitates. There are only two people left among the shards of his soul and Tommy is one of them. The other is Thea and Oliver refuses to even contemplate the life where he doesn't care about his little sister.

He kills his targets. Then he comes back to the safe house and kills his handlers. His trip to Moscow takes a relatively short time during which he shakes off the agents Amanda sent after him, and those he can't shake he kills as well. He thinks it shouldn't be this easy. He remembers his first kill and wonders where that Oliver went. He wonders if he should miss him. _He doesn't._

In Moscow he finds the sign he memorized years ago and enters a quiet cozy bar. _Kabak_ he corrects himself a second later. An hour later he's drinking with delighted Anatoly and knows that, until he's sure Amanda wouldn't try to sink her claws in him (or his family) again, he cannot return home.

He stays in Russia for two years, earning the rank of a Bratva Captain and evading ARGUS. The latter is not as hard as he expected. When he tells that to Anatoly, the man he starts to think of as a friend (and isn't it unexpected, that he can still make them), laughs and explains. ARGUS serves exclusively the interests of the States and that is not something that is popular in Russia. The country is the largest in the world and the thought that American Secret Agency, no matter how competent, should have its way in it unopposed is truly a laughing matter.

Furthermore, says Anatoly, Oliver became part of the family, of Solntsevskaya Bratva, and while that particular brotherhood does not have a large membership, their place on the Russian criminal ladder is closer to the top than to the bottom. He smiles, claps Oliver on the shoulder, pours him another shot and continues. Add the Bratva to the various Russian Secret Agents (the last he says with an easily discernable sarcasm) and ARGUS's chances do not look good.

Oliver learns to speak Russian. He still thinks in English, that is not an easy thing to shed, not that he wants to, but the Mandarin curses he grew accustomed to in China give way to the ones that surround him now.

One day Anatoly takes him to Ural, to Mednaya Mountain and shows him an abandoned mine. At the end of it there is an underground lake and the water is as still as the silence in the cavern. It is one of those spots, tells him his friend with a wry smile, those spots that are prominent in all the stories about ancient orders with the sense of immense self-importance, usually blown out of proportions. The lake, according to legends, was once a final resting place for the _Lubovniki Dani_ , a group that was active during the time people still believed in other gods.

Anatoly trusts Oliver, thinks of him as a brother, and so he shows him one of the few places in the world where the miracles are still possible. Come here, he tells, if you are hurt, if you are dying. Come and live.

They crouch near the edge of the water and drink a handful each, and for the first time since leaving Starling City on that yacht Oliver doesn't feel tired. _He feels alive._

A year later he speaks with Amanda Waller for what he hopes is the last time. There are ARGUS agents behind her. There are Bratva Captains behind him. They come to an understanding. She never touches him or the people he cares (or will care) about again. He stops killing every agent he comes across and sabotaging their missions.

He waits awhile, hardly daring to hope, but there is no reason to believe Amanda will go back on her word. For the first time in years he looks into what his family, _Thea and Tommy_ , has been up to during his absence. The information forces him to abandon his plan of going back to Lian Yu and waiting for Anatoly to send a ship. The authenticity will not be worth the wait. The necessary documentation is easily forged. The doctors are on Bratva's payroll. He doesn't need to stage his rescue in full. Not when the headlines from the newspapers are so glaringly worrying. _Thea Queen is not a Queen! Sordid Romance between a Queen and a Merlyn! The Royal Scandal!_ And finally _The Queen Princess Disowned!_ Worrying indeed.

He would be the first to admit that normal relationships have not been his priority for the last five years, but even he can tell that life in Starling City is the farthest thing from paradise. He is reminded of the fact that it was his father who caused the shipwreck. He never bothered to learn why, but now he wonders. He stalls for a few days, gathering as many facts as he can manage through his contacts, and the results are not promising.

For as long as can remember his father has been a hard man. A demanding man. A cold man. Dimly he recalls his mother's words about how the death of Robert's sister changed him. She died together with Malcolm Merlyn's wife, in the Glades, victims of a pointless mugging attempt. Robert was devastated. So was Malcolm. Malcolm disappeared for a few years, during which Tommy practically lived in the Queen Manor. Robert schemed and started the Undertaking.

More than decade later Malcolm expressed doubts about the validity of certain details in that plan. He was somewhat concerned about the power of devices that were being developed deep in the hidden department of Queen Consolidated. Malcolm was led by self-preservation. He thought the Glades might not be the only area affected and proposed some changes to the Undertaking. Robert promised to think it over.

The following week Malcolm borrowed his best friend's yacht, wanting to take a couple of days off before going to China on a business trip. Tommy tagged along and invited Oliver. Oliver, drowning in his commitment issues, invited Sara. Robert made an untraceable phone call and sealed his son's fate.

A month after the shipwreck Oliver was fighting for his life on Lian Yu. Sara was trying to adjust to the life on the tanker. And Malcolm and Tommy were found on another island, miles from Purgatory, by a Chinese fishing barge.

For a while, after the last report finds its way to him, he sits deep in thought. Brooding, Anatoly calls it and brings him dinner and vodka and distraction. Finally, Oliver comes to a decision. He calls his sister and waits. She picks up on the third ring and her voice is irritated.

“Yeah? Who's it?”

He can't breathe and has to close his eyes, riding out the sudden bout of dizziness. _It was his sister's voice._

“Hello? Look, if it's a prank call, you should have chosen a diff...”

“Thea.”

He can practically see the confusion on her face and swallows.

“Thea. It's me. Oliver.”

“O-Ollie? Ollie?! Is that you?”

“Yeah. It's me.”

He repeats that a couple more times until his sister stops crying for a second and demands his whereabouts.

“In Russia. Their sailors found me and brought to mainland three days ago.”

He made sure the documents' trail proves his words.

“I'm flying back to Starling tomorrow evening. I...” He pauses. “I really want to see you as soon as possible.”

Thea is still crying but he imagines she must be smiling. He certainly is.

“Yes! Of course! I will be there, Ollie. Just tell me when and I will tell Mom and Ro... and Dad and we will be there. I... I knew you weren't dead. I knew it.”

“Right.” He sends her a photo of his plane ticket and adds. “I have to go now, there are some thing the doctors still want to discuss with me, but I'll call you again, alright, Speedy?”

She hiccups into her phone and can't say a word.

“I love you, Thea.”

“L-love you too, Ollie. I'll wait for your call.”

He stares at the dark screen of his phone long after he finishes speaking. He is crying and the tears are liberating. They mean he was able to salvage the last pieces of himself before he lost them to ARGUS and killing and the bloodthirsty beast in his mind. He still has a sister he loves. He still has a friend ( _a brother_ , he thinks) he has not forgotten. And he is still able to move forward one step at a time.

Anatoly arranges a going-home-goodbye party and Oliver spends the night in a comfortable haze of drunken buzz. He knows that if anything happens he always can come back to his friend again and the Bratva will welcome him with open arms. The brotherhood doesn't demand his continued service, for Oliver is already their brother and they do not doubt his loyalty. They have his back and if need arises he has theirs.

He leaves Moscow. He returns to Starling City.

There are more tears, from Thea and his mother, carefully reserved smiles from his father. More lies from Oliver, who watches them all and cannot stop trying to hug his sister. She doesn't complain but Moira glances at him and is obviously perplexed by that bout of unexpected affection. Apparently, none of them knows what a shipwreck victim is supposed to act like and so keep their silence.

They arrive at the manor and there is the second person about whom he never stopped caring. Tommy beams at him and Oliver hugs him, too. He ignores the tension between all the people that surround him for the moment. He will have the time later to deal with it. For now he just breathes deep and smiles.

He is finally home. _And home is finally with him._


	2. Chapter 2

Tommy likes to believe that everyone is inherently good and only the circumstances can force them to commit the truly heinous acts. And after his father lifts him into the lifeboat, after they drift for a few days without direction and without any food (he thanks God that there were several bottles of water stripped to the boat's sides), after all the tears have dried up and they see land, his mind is too numb to process his father's near silent muttering. He still stores the information away in the farthest corner of his mind, there for his perusal as soon as he is ready.

He is ready a week later. Malcolm has built a shelter for them between two palm trees and Tommy can't help but compare it to that one episode of Lost that he watched. The island as far as they can tell is deserted. No people. No animal tracks. Just palm trees, shrubbery and fish. And insects. God, he hates insects.

He rubs another mosquito bite on his elbow and gives himself a minute to despair over their situation. His father is calm. Tommy is mostly over his panic of the first few days. They are alive and there is what looks like crab cooking over the fire pit. (Don't ask him how Malcolm got the fire going. Tommy certainly doesn't know how.) It is the perfect moment for his father's words to surface in his mind.

Robert Queen has tried to kill them. He deemed his own son expendable just to get rid of his best friend. It takes more than a few days to finally believe in what his father is telling him.

A month later they are back in Starling City and, while Robert looks suitably grieving for his son, Tommy catches the glint of coldness in his eyes that gives substance to what he heard. At first, he is furious. He attempts to go to the police before Malcolm stops him and calmly explains what a terrible idea that would be. And while his desire for revenge is strong (Robert tried to kill them both. _He killed Ollie._ ) he doesn't wish to see his own father in jail as well.

And so he tries to calm down. Spends as little time as possible in the Queen mansion lest he does something foolish. Starts taking his own life more seriously and under his father's watchful eyes jumps headfirst into the family business. Malcolm is quietly proud and approving and after a while drafts Tommy into daily sparring with him.

Life continues. Months go by and Tommy watches as his father schemes and plots and undermines the Undertaking without alerting Robert of his intentions. After all, the tragedy that was _Queen's Gambit_ was a simple accident. There is no one to blame but bad weather and faulty equipment. Absolutely no one.

Tommy watches and Tommy learns. And several years after his best friend's death he finds out that he has a sister. Moira is tired of her husband's attitude towards his remaining family and so she turns to the few comforts she has left. One of these comforts is good wine, and good wine makes tongues loose and minds sluggish. She lets the secret slip during a New Year gala and the next morning the whole Starling City is in an uproar over the unearthed scandal.

Robert is furious. He never expected such treachery from his own wife and it shows. He doesn't hide the distrust and even hatred when he meets with Malcolm to discuss how to mitigate the situation. Tommy has to stop them before it escalates to a fistfight that day. He knows that his father will win but having a dead Robert Queen on their hands wouldn't help their public image.

Eventually Robert is fed up with Moira's platitudes and Malcolm's venomous words and simply washes his hands off the whole mess. Thea is not his daughter, he says. And that's it.

Tommy has known that Robert Queen is a bastard. But even he is surprised when all in one day Thea Queen is disowned and basically booted out of the Queen's Mansion. Malcolm steps up and she moves to their house. She refuses to speak to her mother and it's up to Tommy to try and lift her spirits. It takes time but eventually Thea starts to smile again and he can't help but feel proud. _He lost a brother, but his sister is smiling._

They settle into a routine. It is not hard and despite his own character flaws, his father obviously comes to care about his daughter as well. If only, Tommy sometimes thinks, if only Ollie was there with them. He misses his best friend still and nothing covers the bottomless hole left in his heart by his death. For a short time he thinks that the fling with Laurel might be able to do the job, that he can move on and stop having nightmares about loud explosions and freezing water. But it seems life has other plans for them. Perhaps it is too early, perhaps it is too late, but their relationship sours as the time goes by, and it is not long before all their dates end in a shouting match. They break up.

Five years after he almost died he looks into the mirror and he isn't sure he recognizes the man he sees. His eyes are hard and cold, the laughing lines almost invisible on his skin. The mouth is downturned and he doesn't remember the last time he smiled and meant it. His father notices but he is too busy with dealing with Robert and ensuing their continued safety to help his son. His sister notices but she is still too young to really do anything about it. Five years ago Tommy knew that people were good. Now he knows better, but he isn't sure he wants to.

And then Thea gets the call. He is there with her when she picks up the phone and is mildly amused at the annoyed furrow between her brows as she answers. He starts feeling concerned when she begins crying but is stopped short when her brother's name falls from her lips. Ollie is alive. _Ollie is alive and alright and coming back home._

The first thought that crosses Tommy's somewhat stunned mind is whether or not Oliver knows who tried to get him killed. The second is that he cannot let his friend sleep under the same roof as his would be killer. Who knows what Robert might get up to, Tommy thinks and if the words have a touch of hysteria in them he pretends not to notice. The third thought is that he should inform his father, and that is what he does as soon as he gets a glass of water to Thea, who is still crying and clutching her phone.

Malcolm is efficient as he arranges the calls to the Queens and the airport but Tommy can see the slight relief in his expression. His father always liked Ollie despite his behavior and Tommy knows that.

The next day he is pacing the entrance hall of the Queen's Manor waiting for his best friend to arrive with Thea. He is nervous and at the same time exhilarated. He still thinks that he has dreamt up Ollie's miraculous survival and at any moment this will turn into one of his usual nightmares. The floor will burst upwards, he will be swept into icy water, drowning, choking, half-blinded. But no. It is as real as it gets. _Though he pinches himself just in case._

He hears voices, just behind the entrance doors and stills. His shoulders are tense, hands curled into fists. He panics for a second, not sure what to do. But then, then there is light and laughter and smiles and he feels Oliver's arms around him, squeezing and hugging and refusing to let go.

“Ollie”, he breathes, shuts his eyes and returns the hug. “You're... back.”

“Yeah”, Ollie's voice is deeper, harsher, he notices. “Yeah, I am.”

They stand like that for almost a minute and almost desperately Tommy doesn't want to let go. He hears an amused huff from the side and a second later there are three bodies entwined around each other. Thea has joined the hug and Tommy finally starts crying. He doesn't care that the man he hates above anyone else is standing just a few steps away from them and witnessing the whole thing. It doesn't matter. _Nothing but Ollie and Thea does._

Finally, they separate. Ollie is smiling widely, though Tommy can't help but notice that it is as though he is no longer used to doing that.

“Well, wouldn't you look at that, I'm still taller than you, Tommy boy”, Oliver's smile becomes more natural as he clasps Tommy's shoulder and winks. “One would think it would be the other way around, what with me eating nothing but coconuts for the last five years. But then again, I did tell you, that refusing to drink all that milk back when we were kids would have dire consequences.”

For a moment, Tommy feels hopelessly, horrendously guilty after his friend's words, but there is not a glimmer of accusation in Ollie's eyes and he relaxes again.

“Well, you know me, Ollie, I had to let you win at something, didn't I?” He fires back. The pattern is familiar, the steps they loved to dance their whole life, and so he falls back to old habits. Somehow, Thea gets drawn in as well, and soon they are still standing in the foyer, joking and laughing, and Tommy has trouble breathing, because it is as if nothing had changed, when so much obviously did.

But then there is a slow shuffle behind them and as Tommy turns he catches a wary and calculating glint in his friend's gaze as he looks at approaching Robert. _Oh._ He thinks. _Ollie knows._ And he doesn't know how he didn't catch it before, but Oliver has changed. Perhaps even more than Tommy himself did. The way he walks, the way he moves his arms, even how he blinks now, slowly and _like a snake_. He catches a stray thought that his best friend reminds him of Malcolm and has to shake the incredulity that comes with it. He doesn't know what happened on the island, cannot even begin to guess, but whatever it was, he doubts that it had left his friend unscarred.

But then again, what does it matter? He has his friend back, _he has Ollie back,_ and no amount of scars would make him abandon Ollie again.


	3. Chapter 3

Never in his life has Malcolm considered himself an evil man. Ruthless, yes. Practical, undoubtedly. Putting the goal above the means, at times, certainly. But his time with the League of Assassins had taught him what evil looks like and it does not wear his face.  _It wears his_ _best friend's._

When he lost his wife, he was devastated, to the point of practically giving up and chasing the elusive dream of cleansing the world from the filth that infects it. But he refused to lose himself in the darkness. He returned. Back to Starling City. To his company. To the responsibilities of being a father.  _To_ _the hole where Rebecca is supposed to be._

When the Queen's Gambit goes down for one gut-wrenching moment he believes that he has lost Tommy as well, but then he sees him in the water, and drags him onto the lifeboat, allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief. The next two weeks feel almost like a vacation to him. Certainly, he is sad that his son's best friend has died, the boy was like a family to him, but he doesn't have time to grieve. It is easy enough to figure out the culprit behind the oh-so-convenient shipwreck and his thoughts are bitter on his tongue as he voices them to Tommy.

Still, his son is a Merlyn and starts to finally shape up when they return home. Malcolm cannot be prouder of him. _Even if it took Oliver's death for him to do so._

Malcolm stops treating Robert as his friend and starts thinking of him as an enemy. This mindset is only further cemented when he learns that he has a daughter. Thea is an unexpected gift, but he is not complaining. It has always been his wish to have more children after Tommy but Rebecca's brutal murder changed everything. And a year later he receives another unexpected gift, for Oliver has survived the sinking of the Queen's Gambit.

He is unsure of what to expect when Tommy and Thea come back home after dinner with the Queens. Tear tracks on their faces, and possibly happy smiles, surely. But not the faint disappointment and bewilderment that he sees in them now. Thea sighs, barely managing a smile for her father, and bids them goodnight, before retiring to her room. She is obviously not in the mood to talk. Well, thinks Malcolm, turning to his son with a question upon his lips, but Tommy is already speaking.

"Ollie wanted to stay at his parents place," he explains. "I... I'm not sure why. But, as you can see, Thea didn't take it too well." Tommy rubs his forehead and repeats his sister's earlier sigh. Malcolm, looking at his son, is struck at how lost he looks, as Tommy continues, "I mean, he knows, Dad.  _He knows_."

"Knows what?" Malcolm glances at his son and moves the conversation to the sitting room. He has a feeling Tommy might need some stronger comfort for this night, though he himself will have to refrain as he still has some business to take care of later.  _U_ _nder the_ _dark hood_.

"He knows that Robert almost got him killed." With a murmur of thanks, Tommy accepts the whiskey his father offers and steals a seat in the biggest chair in the room. Malcolm smiles fondly at him before his son's words catch up with him. Immediately he straightens and starts to run contingency plans in his mind. Not good, he thinks, and his tone is a little sharper when he asks the next question.

"What do you mean? Has Oliver said something? Accused his father?" If that is the case, he might just have to kidnap the boy and hide him away until he deals with Robert. Tommy will understand.

"No. No, he didn't. But... I mean, the way he looked at him and spoke to him..." The words falling from Tommy mouth are hurried and frustrated. "I don't think Robert noticed, but Ollie was very... Well, cautious. Cold. Calculating. One moment he is joking with me and Thea and speaking with Raisa, you know, the old maid, and the next his father asks something and it's like a switch has been flipped."

"Hmm," Now, that is interesting. "Are you sure that this behavior is caused by Oliver's knowledge that Robert was involved in the shipwreck? Not because he spent five years away from any sign of civilization?"

"I cannot be completely sure, at least not without asking Ollie outright, but..." Tommy finishes the glass and wets his lips. "But, I'm sure. He knows."

For a moment Malcolm silently contemplates the situation. His plans do not actually include Oliver, but if his son is correct, then they will have to be changed to compensate. Another unforeseen variable. How... irritating, he can't help but think. It would have been better if Oliver spent another year on the island. _Better and certainly easier._

"Why did he decide to spend the night there then?" He finally asks.

"That's the thing, Dad, I have absolutely no idea!" Tommy voice has a note of desperation in it. "What if something happens? What if Robert does something again? Dad, I-"

Malcolm doesn't let him finish.

"Calm down. If it worries you this much I will check on him after I finish tonight business." He stands and pats his son's shoulder. "However, do let him know that he will always have a place in this household, should he ever need it."

He waits for Tommy's resigned nod before leaving to change, and is still plotting the best course of action where Oliver is concerned, when he slips into the warehouse his contacts found for him. The shipment inside, as far as he was able to determine, contains the parts for the wretched machine Robert insisted on building.

Destroying them is one of the few ways he can delay the Undertaking and buy himself more time. He is aware that Robert's death would have been the simplest solution to the situation he landed his family in, but as much as he wants to, he cannot.

As he creeps in the shadows, Malcolm silently bemoans the ridiculous honor system he is forced to adhere to as a member of the League of Assassins. It is perfectly justified to kill a complete stranger over any perceived offence, but not your best friend, no. Not even when your best friend turns out to be your worst enemy. Not even when he tries to kill you, your son, and many innocents.  _Not even, when he tries to murder his own flesh and blood._

There are two guards behind the crates, but it is late and they are tired. It is child's play to plant one knife, twist one neck and soon he is alone in the warehouse. The next few minutes feel almost like a routine: fix the explosives, scan the shadows, set the detonator, and then depart.

After he climbs over the fence on his way out of the port he presses the button and enjoys the colors painted on the dark night sky from his handiwork. Soon, he reaches the Queens mansion. He did promise Tommy, after all.

It shouldn't take more than half an hour, Malcolm muses. Get in, check on Robert, check on the boy, and get out.

The first part of the plan goes off without a hitch. Getting in the manor is easy; Robert never bothers to upgrade the fairly rudimentary security. Unnoticed, he slinks though the shadowed halls until he finds the master bedroom. On the way he peeks in on Moira, just in case, but the woman has long since started sleeping in a separate room and he does not need to worry about her. He allows for a moment of regret as he gazes at her sleeping form, but the time when they were on friendly, much less speaking terms, is long past and he does not have the luxury to wallow in memories. He goes to Robert instead.

Malcolm can hear the snoring before he even enters the room but does not let it distract him. The fewer minutes he spends in here, the more he has to catch up on his own sleep at home. These nightly excursions have been really taking a toll on him lately. Still, he is thorough as he checks the room. At least until he sees the half-finished bottle and smells the alcoholic stench of Robert's breath. Moira is not the only Queen to heavily favor the wine in the family, but usually her husband doesn't allow himself to overindulge. It seems his son's truly miraculous return rattled something inside the man and he just couldn't resist, hence his current condition. But just in case, he plants a couple of bugs.  _Just in case._

Grimacing, Malcolm leaves the room. He doubts Robert will try something. It is one matter to condemn his son to death where he cannot see it; it is another entirely to murder him in cold blood while they are under the same roof.  _Evil doesn't mean brave after all._

He does, however, take extra care to keep his steps silent as he nears what he remembers to be Oliver's room. It would not do to wake the boy. Malcolm slowly opens the door and slips inside. Immediately he is stopped by a gust of cold wind chilling him to the bone. The window is open and the room is empty. It seems that while he was in the manor, the weather decided to throw a temper tantrum.

Malcolm sighs in frustration and moves closer to the window intending to close it. However, the sight of what looks like a boot mark stops him short. At first, he assumes that he is simply mistaken, that it is not Oliver's room, but then he is not so sure.

He casts a glance towards the bed. The covers are untouched, it is doubtful that it has been used. But there is a bag underneath and a carelessly thrown jacket over the bedside table forcing Malcolm to conclude that it is, in fact, the right room. He hesitates but in the end there is only one thing to do and he follows the scarce signs of someone, most likely, Oliver, leaving the room through the window. At least it is on the ground floor, Malcolm consoles himself internally.

The rain beats a soothing melody on the leather of his cowl as he walks into the woods. After a while he starts to recognize the path and hesitates once more. He doesn't really have any desire to visit the Queens' family cemetery but his promise to Tommy outweighs his reluctance. He passes the gates and stills.  _There he is_ , thinks Malcolm in satisfaction at seeing Oliver behind the nearest trees.

The boy (the man, he corrects himself grudgingly) is drenched. He is standing before a couple of headstones and, with a start, Malcolm recognizes the one Queens placed for their missing son. He hides himself behind the bushes and, for a moment, just watches as Oliver crouches and touches the marble stone.

They stay like that for the next few seconds until a phone buzzing in Oliver's pocket interrupts the soft patter of the rain. Oliver shakes his head and moves to the cover of a nearby tomb before answering the call.

"Da?"

Russian. Oliver is speaking Russian. Malcolm is too tired to be properly surprised but he still remembers the man's disastrous attempts at learning Spanish in school and so feels a faint sense of bewilderment. He listens to the conversation straining his ears and his memory to try and understand what is being said.

"Nyet, Knyaz', ya v poryadke. Da. Net, visilat' tseluyu komandu ne nado, pari chelovek budet dostatochno."

Malcolm huffs in disappointment. He never was a fan of Slavic languages, too many rules that are mostly ignored by the native speakers, and as such can understand only a couple of words. It is not nearly enough to get the gist of the conversation.

"Ya podumayu." Oliver's tone softens. "Spasibo, brat. Ya tebe eshe pozvonyu. Bivai." He ends the call and wipes the rainwater from his forehead. He looks exhausted, thinks Malcolm. Exhausted, but not from lack of sleep. For a brief moment he catches something terribly familiar in the young man's expression, however Oliver starts moving before Malcolm can recognize the feeling for what it truly is.

They walk back to the manor, as the light rain becomes a real downpour. By the time they reach the sole open window in the whole manor, the only thing Malcolm is capable of thinking about is how warm his bed must be. Out of sense of somewhat familial duty he waits while Oliver climbs back inside and only then turns and leaves as silently as he has arrived earlier. He is cold, wet, and starting to get hungry. Nevertheless, after tonight, at least for a little while, he can assuage his son's worries. He almost hums at the feeling of a night well spent but catches himself in time.

 _He never notices a pair of cold blue eyes watching him as he walks away_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, but I'm finally done with my finals and can continue the story. A round of applause for my newfound beta: Darkmoon111.))  
> And translations for Oliver's phone call:  
> "Yes."  
> "No, Knyaz, I'm fine. Yes. No, no need to send a whole team, a couple of men will be enough."  
> "I'll think about it. Thanks, brother. I'll call you later. Take care."


	4. Chapter 4

_When she is ten Thea goes to a private school on the outskirts of Starling City. There is no uniform code so she wears cute dresses and has her Mum put her curls into pigtails and practically skips the whole way from the car to the school entrance._

_She likes her classes and her classmates and her teachers. But the one she doesn't like is Amy Grates. Amy is one year older than her and hates the Queens because her parents hate the Queens. For the next month she comes home with scratches and tears, and she doesn't like school anymore._

_She tries to tell the teachers, but they don't believe her._

_She tries to tell her parents but they are too busy._

_Finally, she tells Ollie. Ollie believes her._

_He smiles as the water rises before her eyes and promises to make it better as he drowns._

Thea wakes up with a scream. Her skin is cold and clammy, but she pays it no mind as she slips from her room on shaky legs. The hallways are filled with shadows and she flinches when one of them takes the shape of her nightmare.

But still Thea soldiers on until she reaches her brother's room. She pauses and knocks, her hand staying on the wood for a second while she waits for an answer.

“What?” Comes her brother's voice. It is hoarse and irritated, without any sign of sleepiness.

“It's me,” she answers, waiting again.

“Thea? Come in, the door's open.”

She opens the doors and almost trips on the belt, carelessly thrown on the floor. Usually Tommy is not so messy, she thinks.

_Usually, but not tonight._

“I couldn't sleep.”

The words are quiet as Thea wanders closer to her brother and flops on the bed beside him. She notices an empty glass in Tommy's hand and wrinkles her nose. Scotch is so not her thing. Alcohol in general is so not her thing.

_She prefers something easier to swallow._

They spend the next few minutes in silence, Thea slowly relaxing, shifting even closer to her brother, and Tommy thoughtfully gazing at the ceiling.

It is a routine they have established ever since Thea came to live in Merlyn Manor. Whenever she feels sad and depressed, whenever she has a nightmare and cannot fall asleep afterwards, she seeks out Tommy.

His presence calms her worries, stills her thoughts. She stops counting her every breath and  heartbeat just to distract herself. She feels safe.

_Like she did with Ollie._

“He is going to be alright, you know.” She is brought out of her thoughts as Tommy puts the glass on the bedside table. “Ollie is tough. He is going to be just fine.” He swallows. “Now that he is back to Starling City we won't let anything happen to him again, won't we, little sister?”

Thea grins and spontaneously hugs him. One of the many things she's come to appreciate about her brother is that Tommy always knows what to say to make her feel better.

“Of course, we won't.” She murmurs in response.

Still, the thought of Oliver staying at the Queen Mansion leaves her with a bad taste in her mouth. Rationally, Thea understands that he would want to reconnect with his parents. Naturally. After everything that happened. It's only fair.

 _It's totally unfair_ , she thinks with a sulk and closes her eyes.  She wants to properly reconnect with him, too. And he doesn't even know how horrible Robert and Moira were acting towards her.

She really, really, _really_ , doesn't want him to spend even a few hours in their presence, let alone live with them again.

“It would be so much better if Ollie just came to live with us...” Thea whispers into Tommy shoulder, her eyelids growing heavy again. Distantly, she feels him pat her head and settle down as well.

 

&&&&&

 

Thea wakes up alone. That in itself is not surprising, Tommy usually has too much work to let himself laze around in the morning. What is surprising is that he bothered to leave a note for her on his pillow.

' _Y_ _o, Speedy. Ollie called. We're meeting for lunch in the town today. I'll pick you up at two. XOXO'_

For a second she just stares at the words, not really seeing them, but then a huge smile steals across her face and Thea bounces over from Tommy's room back to hers.

An hour and three discarded outfits later she forces herself to at least do something about her often ignored homework instead of just wishing for the clock arms to move faster. Wishing never works anyway, she tells herself.

_Except when it does._

The textbook manages to scramble her mind enough that she almost doesn’t notice the steps outside her door.

“Thea? May I come in?”

Her father sounds… preoccupied. Tired. And as Thea moves to let him inside she idly wonders if he’s getting enough sleep.

“Dad? I thought you were at work.”

“I was,” he smiles briefly. “But unexpectedly I’ve got my afternoon free and was wondering if you’d like to join me for lunch.”

Oh. Normally, Thea would jump at a chance like that, but not today.

“I was planning on meeting with Tommy and Ollie,” she explains. “Sorry, Dad. Rain check?”

For a second Malcolm pauses but then he nods.

“Of course. Have fun and try not to stay out too late.” There are dark circles under his eyes and Thea can’t help but frown. She almost opens her mouth to tell him that she really wishes he didn’t overwork himself so, but something in his expression stops her. She is not sure what.

Malcolm leaves and a puzzled Thea stares after him. But she doesn’t get a chance to think on it as the next moment her phone rings and it’s Tommy. She grins, grabs her bag, and rushes outside.

“Tommy!”

“Hey, Speedy.” Her brother ruffles her hair and laughs. He looks better. Lighter than the night before, she thinks. “Ready?”

Thea nods and they get in the car. The drive is relatively short and comfortably silent. They pull up beside a restaurant.

A cafe, amends Thea a second later. It doesn’t look as fancy as what her brother usually frequents and she wonders who picked the place.

Oliver is already inside. He picked a corner table, far from any windows (or other customers) and the shadows make him seem older and harsher than Thea expected. Still, she shrugs it off and plops down next to him.

“Hey, Speedy.” Echoes Ollie his friend’s earlier words. “Tommy.”

They exchange the greetings and place their orders (And sandwiches? So not what she expected to be having for lunch.) Thea casts for something to say, something that wouldn’t sound too insensitive, wouldn’t turn the mood too dark and comes short.

She is still almost bubbling with happiness at seeing her brother again, she truly is. But it doesn’t mean that she isn’t also insanely curious as to what happened to him on that island.

Tommy apparently doesn’t share her hesitation.

“So, Ollie, how are you doing, really? I mean, when Dad and me got rescued all those years ago it took me awhile to adjust to the city life again. Is there anything we can do to make it easier for you?” Her brother. As blunt as ever.

Oliver tilts his head to the side and hums.

“Well.” He pauses. “Well, seeing the two of you is enough for me. I… really missed you guys. So. Yeah.” He smiles a bit helplessly and Thea struggles to wink her tears away before anyone notices.

“We missed you, too, brother.” Thea’s voice is shadowed by Tommy’s and after a second they all laugh. And if her laugh is a tad too hysterical no one comments.

During the next hour she dares to ask a few questions of her own and learns that Ollie’s experience on the island was remarkedly different from Tommy’s.

The island was several times bigger for one. And full not only of palms and sparse shrubbery, but an honest-to-god jungle.

“If nothing else,” says Oliver. “I can now imitate Tarzan amazingly well.”

They imagine him in loincloth, swinging from vine to vine and bellowing out his lungs, and laugh again.

She learns that hunting with a makeshift spear is much harder than fishing with one, that it’s possible to get sick from anything if  you’re not careful, that making a shelter that doesn’t leak when it’s raining is painstaking work.

_That having his father with him made Tommy’s stay on the island practically a vacation._

Thea swallows and wonders how many things Ollie left unsaid. She doesn’t think she can ask him anymore.

“That reminds me,” says Oliver when there is a lull in the conversation. “I got something for you.”

He fishes out two small packets from his pocket and puts them on the table between them. Before Tommy can react, Thea picks one up turning it over in her hands curiously.

“What is it?” She asks.

“A gift.”

“Huh. Didn’t think there were malls on that island of yours.” Jokes Tommy as he holds up the other packet.

“You’d be surprised.” Replies his friend with a smirk.

Thea ignores them and unwraps her present.

Inside is a strangely shaped pendant on a leather string. It’s an arrowhead, she realizes after a moment. She turns it around and notes a couple of nicks and scratches on it along with some hieroglyphs, and overall she thinks it looks quite exotic. She glances at her brothers to find that Tommy’s gift is the same.

“Thank you, Ollie. It’s very pretty.” She smiles and puts it around her neck. After a beat, Tommy follows her lead and does the same.

For a second Oliver’s smile looks a bit strange to her, like he is not really seeing them, but the moment passes and she chalks it up to her imagination.

They chat for a while, sitting in the cafe long after they finish their meal, after the lunch hour is over and there are no other customers but them. Thea can’t remember the last time she was this happy.

But eventually, Tommy’s phone rings and he rises to leave for work again. She huffs in disappointment, thinking that he is too much like their father sometimes. Still, there is nothing she can do to stop him.

She turns to Ollie, about to suggest going to the park or something.

_Anywhere is fine as long as it’s not back to the Queens’ manor._

But Oliver is already standing as well.

“Sorry, little sis. I’m afraid I have something to do as well.” He steps around the table and crouches down before her. It makes her seem like such a child, she frowns. “How about we meet again tomorrow? All of us?”

Thea feels her frown melting away and nods. She can do tomorrow. She will have to skip her school again, but she can definitely do tomorrow. It’s not like she would miss much. Math and Lit classes could never compare to spending her time with her brother.

_With her brothers._

“Great.” Oliver ruffles her hair, hugs Tommy and moves to leave.

Then there is the sound of glass breaking and he clutches at his neck. Incredulous, Thea stares as he yanks out a small dart and she opens her mouth to scream, but now there is something in her neck as well and she can no longer find her voice.

She tumbles down from her chair and dully hears two other bodies hitting the floor. Ollie and Tommy, she thinks. She tries to reach them, manages to croak out their names, but then her eyes close and darkness falls all around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A standing ovation for my beta, Darkmoon111.


End file.
